TB lAUR kl W3'Arii;#ss,r^*„e' -3> CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Y >^ \ ,^^ ■ »v ® t^ ^w^ DATE DUE ^■4*w »-»»yp" ? ' Tia^'** - ? \!M k^p ,# i^ pi PRINTED IN U.S.A. ■J^^Yi^ ■\r7 m 4%'- i PZ 7.H79H7"*"""''''"^">"-»'rary IIMIII»wJ!f2n!.y^'"s«home/ The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924005406768 "Oh, will she have to stay there forever?" asked Freddie. ^ " The Bobbsey Twins at Home The Bobbsey Twins at Home BY LAURA LEE HOPE AUTHOR OS "THE BOBBSEY TWINS," NEW YORK GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS Copyright, 1916, by GrOSSET & DuNtAP. The Bobbsey Twins at Homs PMNTED^IN THE UNITED STATES OF A]<1!IIICA CONTENTS ToMM\ Todd's Story ....... i A SuDD£n Stop ; , . . 13 Snap and Snoop . 24 Home Again . 36 Tommy's Teoobi,ES 45 ScHooi, Days 57 The Schooi< Play 67 Snoop in Trouble ........ 76 Nan Bakes a Cake . 1 ,''t?^< ... 86 In THE Lumber YARli*ii••■?^'. • • • 98 A QuE^^fe Pi.ay;-Hou^.*..(4^- ... 108 Tqmmy-'Is Rewarped". '' . i' . . . . 117 The '1?'irst' Frost 129 After Chestnuts 139 The Storm 151 The First Snow i6i On the Hili, .171 Bert's Snowshoes .181 Through the Ice 191 Lost in a Storm ... «... 202 The Strange Man ....,„.. 21/1 Happy Days ..... o.,., . 2si THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME CHAPTER I TOMMY TODD S STORY "Mother, how many more stations before we'll be home ?" "Oh, quite a number, dear. Sit back and rest yourself. I thought you liked it on the train." "I do ; but it's so long to sit still." The little fellow who had asked the question turned to his golden-haired sister, who sat in the seat with him. "Aren't you tired, Flossie?" he asked. "Yes, Freddie, I am!" exclaimed Flossie. "And I want a drink of water." "Dinah will get it for you," said Mother Bobbsey. "My! But you are a thirsty little girl." "Deed an' dat's whut she am!" exclaimed a 2 THE BOBBSEY TWIN& AT HOME fat, good-natured looking colored woman, smiling at the little girl. Dinah was the Bobb- sey family cook. She had been with them so long that she used to say, and almost do, just what she pleased. "Dis am de forty-sixteen time I'se done bin dowrn to de end ob de car gittin' Miss Flossie a drink ob watah. An' de train rocks so, laik a cradle, dat I done most upsot ebery time. But I'll git you annuder cup ob watah, Flossie lamb !" "And if you're going to upset, and fall down, Dinah, please do it where we can see you," begged Freddie. "Nothing has happened since we got on this train. Do upset, Dinah !" "Yes, I want to see it, too," added Flossie. "Here, Freddie, you can have my place at the • window, and I'll take yours on the outside. Then I can see Dinah better when the car up- sets her." "No, I want to sit here myself, Flossie. You wanted the window side, and now you must stay there." "No, I don't want to. I want to see Dinah upset in the aisle. Mamma, make Freddie let me sit where I can see Dinah fall." TOMMY TODD'S STORY 3 "Well, ob all t'ings !" gasped the fat, colored cook. "If you chilluns t'ink dat I'se gwine t' upsot mahse'f so yo' kin see suffin t' laugh at, den all I'se got t' say is I ain't gwine t' do it! No, sah! Not fo' one minute!" And Dinah sat up very straight in her seat. "Children, be nice now," begged Mother Bobbsey. "I know you are tired with the long ride, but you'll soon hear the brakeman call otit 'Lakeport' ; and then we'll be home." "1 wish I were home now," said Freddie. "I want fco get my dog Snap out of the baggage car, and have some fun with him. I guess he"s lonesome for me." "And he's lonesome for me, too !" cried Flos- sie. "He's as much my dog as he is yours, Freddie Bobbsey. Isn't he. Mother?" "Yes, dear, of course. I don't know what's the matter with you two, children. You never used to dispute this way." "I guess the long train ride is tiring theih," said Papa Bobbsey, looking up from the paper he was reading. "Anyhow, half of Siioop, our black cat, is mine then," said Freddie. "Isn't she, Mother?"" 4 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME "Yes. And now. please don't talk like that any more. Look out of the window and watch the trees shoot past." "Oh, I'm going to see Snoop!" exclaimed Flossie, suddenly. "So'm I," added Freddie. And in a mo- ment the two children were bending over a bas- ket which was in the seat with Dinah. In the basket was Snoop, the big black cat. She al- ways traveled that way- with the Bobbseys. And she seemed v^ry comfortable, for she was curled up on the blanket in the bottom of the basket. Snoop opened her eyes as Freddie and Flossie put their fingers through cracks and stroked her as well as they could. "I wish Snap was in here with us," said Freddie, after a bit. "I hope he gets a drink •of water." "Oh, I want a drink of water!" exclaimed Flossie, suddenly. "I forgot I was thirsty. Mother, can't I have a drink?" she went on. ''Oh, yes, dear. I suppose so. I'll get it for you." "No, let Dinah get it so she'll upset," begged iFlossie. TOMMY TODD'S STORY 5 "I'll get it for you, Flossie," offered Freddie. "iDinah might, get hurt." "Dat's de li'l gen'rnan," said the fat cook, smiling. "He lubs ole Dinah." "I love you toof, Dinah," said Flossie, pat- ting the black hand that had done many kind acts for the twins. "But I do want a drink, and you know you would look funny if you upset here in the car." "Yes, I spects I would, chile," laughed Dinah. "May I get Flossie a drink ?" asked Freddie. "You may both go down to the end of the car where the water-cooler is," said Mrs. Bobb- sey. "The train is slowing down now, and going to stop, I think, so you won't fall. But be careful." Flossie and Freddie started toward the end of the long car, but their sister Nan, who with her brother Bert was a few seats away, went with them, to make sure nothing would hap- pen. "I'm not thirsty any more," Flossie said, after having had two cups of cold water. "No, but you will be in half an hour, I'm 6 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME sure," laughed Nan. "Every one seems to get thirsty on a railroad journey. I do myself," and she took some water after Freddie had had enough. ' The train now came to a stop, and Flossie and Freddie hurried back to their seat to look out at the station. Hardly were they both crowded close to the window before there was the sound of shouting and laughing, and into the car came rushing a number of children. With them were two ladies who seemed to be in charge. There were boys and girls — about twenty all together — and most of them made rushes for the best seats, while some hurried down to the tank to get drinks of ice-water. "I had that cup first !" cried one. "You did not! I had it myself," said an- oOier. "That's my seat by the window !" shouted a thiiri. "It is not ! I had it first, you can see where I left my hat ! Oh, my hat^ gone!" a boy ex- claimed. "I threw it on the floor, I wanted to sit here myself," said a big girl with red curls. TOMMY TODu-a STORY 7 "Children ! Children ! You must be quiet !" called one of the ladies. The train started again, all the other pas- sengers watching the queer children who were making such a confusion. "Oh, see the cow!" cried a tall boy. "It's the last cow you'll see for a year, fellows, so take a good look at her," he added as the train passed along a field. "No more good times for a long while," sighed a boy who had a seat near Freddie and Flossie. "I wish I could live in the country always." Flossie and Freddie looked at him. His clothes were patched here and there, but they were clean. And his face and hands were clean, which could not be said of all the other children, though some of them showed that they had tried to make themselves neat. "The country is the best place," he said, and he looked at the two smaller Bobbsey twins as though he would like to speak to them. "I'm going to be a farmer when I grow up,"- he went on, after a pause. "He — ^he's a nice boy," whispered Flossie 8 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME to her brother. "I'm going to speak to him. We can talk about the country." "Wait a minute," advised Freddie. "Maybe mother wouldn't want us to talk to strangers." Flossie looked back to where her father and mother were sitting. Mrs. Bobbsey was speak- ing to one of the ladies who had come in the car with the noisy children. "Are you taking part of aa orphan asylum on an outing?" Flossie heard her mother ask. "No. These are some 'fresh air' children. They have been out in the country for two weeks, and now we are taking them home. Poor things ! I wish we could have kept them longer out in the green fields and woods, but there are others waiting for their chance to go. "You see," she went on, and Flossie and Freddie Hstened carefully, "some kind people give us money so that the poor children qf the city may have a little time in the country dur- ing the hot weather. We board them out at different farmers' houses. This company of children has been on two different farms near Branchville, where we just got on the train. Some of the little ones are from Sanderville.** TOMMY TODD'S STORY 9 This was a large city not far from Lakeport, a smaller city where ^he Bobbsey twins lived. ''Others are from Lakeport," went on the lady,, speaking to Mrs. Bobbsey. "Indeed!" exclaimed Freddie's mother. "I did not know there was a fresh air society in our city." "It has only just been formed," said the lady, who was a Miss Carl;er. "We haven't much money left, I'm sorry to say." "Then you must let me give you some," said Mr. Bobbsey. "And I will get some friends of mine to give money also. Our own children enjoy it so much in the cbuntry that I want to see others have a good time, too." Then he and Mrs. Bobbsey began to talk about ways of helping poor children, and Flos- sie and Freddie did not listen 'any more. Be- sides, just then the train was passing along a field in which were many horses, some of which raced alongside the cars, and that interested the twins. "Oh, look at 'em run!" cried the fresh air boy who sat in front of the smaller Bobbsey twins. "Don't they go fast?" lO THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME The other fresh air youngsters crowded to their windows to look out, and some tried to push their companions away so they might see better. Then a number all wanted a drink of water at the same time, and the two ladies who were in charge of the children were kept busy making them settle down. The quiet, neat boy about whom Flossie had whispered to her brother, turned around in his seat and, looking at Freddie, asked : "Were you ever on a farm ?" "Yes," answered Freddie, "we just came from our uncle Dan's farm, at Meadow Brook. We were there 'most all Summer. Now we're going back home." "Where do you live, and what's your name ?" asked the strange boy. •"My name's Freddie Bobbsey, and this is my jsister Flossie," was the answer. "We're twins. Up there, in that other seat, are my brother and :sister, Bert and Nan. They're twins too, but they're older'n we are. We live in Lakeport." "You do ?" cried the boy in surprise. "Why, that's where I live! My name is Tommy Todd." TOMMY TODD'S STORY n "That's a nice name," put in Flossie politely. "I don't know any one of that name in Lake- port though. Where does your father live?" Tommy Todd did not answer at once, and Freddie was surprised to see tears in the eyes of the strange boy. "I — I guess you folks don't ever come down to our part of Lakeport," he said. "We live down near the dumps. It isn't very nice there." Freddie had heard of the "dumps." It was on the farther side of the city, a long distance from his nice home; Once, when he was very little, he had wandered away and been lost. A policeman who found him had said Freddie was near the "dumps." Freddie remembered that very well. After- ward, he heard that the "dumps" was a place where the ashes, tin cans, and other things that people fihrew away were dumped by the scav- engers. So Freddie was sure it could not be a very nice place. "I live out near the dumps, with my grand- mother," went on Tommy Todd. "We've a grandmother too," said Flossie. "We go to see her at Christmas. We've two 12 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME grandmas. One is my mother's mother, and the other is my father's mother. That's my papa and my mother back there," and Flossie pointed to where Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey were talking to this fresh air lady. "Doesn't your father live with you and your grandmother ?" asked Freddie. "I — I haven't any father," said Tommy, and once more the tears came into his eyes. "He was lost at sea. He was a captain on a ship, and it was wrecked." "Oh, please tell us about it!" begged Fred- die. "I just love stories about the ocean ; don't you, Flossie ?" "Yes, I do." "I'm going to be a sea captain when I grow up," said Freddie^ "Tell us about your father, Tommy." So while the train rushed on Tommy Todd told his sad little story. \ CHAPTER II A SUDDEN STOP "I don't remember my father very well," said Tommy Todd. "I was real little when he, went away. That was just after my mother died. My grandmother took care of me. I just remember a big man with black hair and whisk- ers, taking me up in his arms, and kissing me good-bye. That was my father, my grand- mother told me afterward." , "What made him ge away from you ?" asked Flossie. "Didn't he like to stay at home?" "I guess maybe he did." said Tommy. "But he couldn't stay. He was a sea captain on a ship, you know." "Of course!" cried Freddie. "Don't you know, Flossie? A sea captain never stays at home,, only a little while. He has to go off to steer the ship across the ocean. That's what I'm going to do." 13 H THE BOBBSh-i: TWINS AT HOME "I don't want you to," returned Flossie, a6 she nestled up closer to her brother. "I want you to stay with me. If you have to go so far off to be a sea captain couldn't you be some- thing else and stay at home? Couldn't you be a trolley-car conductor?" "Well, maybe I could," said Freddie slowly* "But I'd rather be a sea captain. Go on. Tommy. Tell us about your father." : "Well, I don't know much," went on Tommy Todd. "I don't remember him so very well, you know. Then my grandmother and I lived alone. It was in a better house than we have now, and we had more things to eat. I never get enough now when I'm home, though when I was on the fresh air farm I had lots," and, sighing, Tommy seemed sad. "My father used to write letters to my grand- I mother — she is his mother," he explained. *i "When I got so I could understand, my grand- mother read them tON me. My father wrote fibout his ship, and how he sailed away up where the whales are. Sometimes he would send us money in the letters, and then grandma 'k would make a little party for me. !^ A JUDDEN STOP 15 "But after a while no more letters came. My grandmother used to ask the postman everj day if he didn't have a letter for her from my father, but there wasn't any. Then there was a piece in the paper about a ship that was Vrrecked. It was my father's ship." "What's wrecked?" asked Flossie. "It means the ship is all smashed to pieces; doesn't it?" asked Freddie of Tommy. "That's it; yes. My father's ship was in a Aortn and was smashed on the rocks, Every- body on it, and my father too, was drowned in the ocean, the paper said. That's why I like the country better than the ocean." "I used v>o like the ocean," said Flossie slowly. "We go down to Ocean Cliff some- times, where Uncle William and Aunt Emily and Cousin Dorothy live. But I don't like the ocean so much new, if it made your father drown." "Oh, well, there have to be shipwrecks I s'pose," remarked Tommy. "But, of course, it was awful hard to lose my father." He turned his head away an^ seemed to be looking out of the window. Thei:i he went on : ,Q THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME "After grandmother read that in the paper about my father's ship sinking she cried, and I . cried too. Then she wrote some letters to the company that owned the ship. She thought maybe the papers were wrong, about the ship sinking, but when ihe answers came back they said the same thing. The men who owned the ship which my father w"as captain of, said the vessel was lost and no one was saved. No more letters came from my father, and no more money. Then grandmother and I had to move away from the house where we were living, and had to go to a little house down by the dumps. It isn't nice there." "Does your grandma have any money now ?" asked Flossie. "A little. She sews and I run errands for ihe groceryman after school, and earn a little. But it i^n't much. I was glad when the fresh air folks took me to the farm. I had lots to eat, and my grandmother had more too, for she didn't have to feed me. She is going to the fresh air farm some day, maybe." "That will be nice," said Flossie. "We're going to Uncle Dan's farm again next yeai. A SUDDEN STOP if maybe, and perhaps your grandma can come there." "I don't believe so," returned Tommie, "But anyhow I had fun, and I weigh two pounds more than 'fore 1 went away, and I can run errands faster now for Mr/ Fitch." "Why, he's our grocery man!" cried Fred- die. "Do you work for him. Tommy?" "Sometimes, and sometimes I work for Mr. Schmidt, a butcher. But I don't earn much. When I get through school I'll work aK the while, and earn lots of money. Then I'm going lo hire a ship and go to look for my father." "I thought you said he was drowned in the ocean!" exclaimed Flossie. "Well, maybe he is. But sometimes ship- wrecked people get picked up by other vessels and carried a long way off. And sometimes they get on an island and have to stay a long time before they are taken off. Maybe that happened to my father." "Oh, maybe it did I" cried Freddie. "That would be great! Just like Robinson Crusoe, Flossie! Don't you remember?" "Yes, mother read us that story I hope l8 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME your father is on Robinson Crusoe's island^" she whispered to Tommy. "I'll tell you what we'll do," said Freddie to the new boy. "When I get home, I'll take all the money in my bank, and help you buy a ship^ Then we'll both go off together, looking for the desert island where your father is ; will you ?" "Yes," said Tommy, "I will, and thank you." "I'm coming, too," said Flossie. "No. Girls can't be on a ship !" said Fred- die. "Yes they can too! Can't they. Tommy?" "Well, my mother was once on the ship with my father, I've heard my grandma say." "There, see!" cried Flossie. "Of course I'm coming ! I'll do the cooking for you boys." "Oh, well, if you want to cook of course that's different," said Freddie, slowly, as he thought about it. "I'm going to ask my father how much I got saved up," he v;ent on to Tommy. "And how much it costs to buy a ship. He'll know, for he sells lumber. You wait here and I'll ask him." Freddie slipped from the seat into t'ne a'sle A SUDDEN STOP 19 of the car. Flossie stayed to talk to Tommy. Bert and Nan were looking at a magazine which Mrs. Bobbsey had bought for them, and she and her husband were still talking to the fresh air lady. Scattered about the car, the fresh air children were talking and laughing, telling each other of the good times they had had in the country. All of them were sorry to go back to the city again. "Papa," began Freddie, as he reached the seat where Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey sat, "how much money have I saved up ? And how much does a ship cost? 'Cause Tommy Todd and I are going off to look for his father who is lost on a desert island, and we want to bring him home. Does it take much money ?" Mr. Bobbsey looked at his little boy, won- dering what he meant, and he was just going *.o answer him, and say it took much more money than Freddie had saved to buy a ship, when, all at once, the train came to such a sud- den stop that Freddie was nearly thrown off his feet. His father caught him just in time. "Oh!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey. "I hope there has been no accident !" 20 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME "If dey is I'se gwine t' git out quick!" cried Dinah. "Come on, chilluns. I'se got de cat !" and she started to run for the door, carrying the basket holding Snoop. "Be quiet," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Nothing much seems to have happened. We didn't hit an3rthing, anyhow." Some of the fresh air children were ex- cited, and the two ladies in charge hurried here and there quieting them. Bert Bobbsey, who was with his sister Nan, looked out a window. "Oh, see!" he cried. "A lot of men with guns are standing along the track. They stop- ped the train, I guess. They must be robbers ! I'm going to hide my money !" Several women heard Bert speak of robbers, and they screamed. "Bert, don't be foolish !" said Mr. Bobbsey. "I dare say it isn't anjrthing. I'll go out and see what it means." "I'll come with you," said a man in the seat behind Mr. Bobbsey. Several other passengers also left the train. And while they are out seeking the cause of the sudden stop I'll tell A SUDDEN aTOP ai my new readers something atw^ut the Bobbsey twins, so that they may feel better acquainted with them. Those of you who have read the other books in this series, beginning with the first, '"the Bobbsey Twins," know enough about the chil- dren already. But others 'do not. There were two sets of Bobbsey twins. Bert and Nan were about ten years old. Both were tall and slim, with dark hair and eyes. Flossif and Freddie, who were about five years of age, were short and fat, and had light hair and blue eyes. The Bobbseys lived in an Eastern city called Lakeport, near Lake Metoka, on the shore of which Mr. Bobbsey had a large lumber yard. Once this had caught fire, and Freddie had thought he could put the blaze out with his lit- tle toy fire engine. Ever since then Mr. Bobb- sey had called the little chap "fireman." Dinah Johnson was the Bobbsey's cook. She had been with them many years. And Sam, her husband, worked around the house, carry- ing out ashes, cutting the grass, and such things astliat. 22 THE BOtiJbbEY TWINS AT HOME Besides these, the Bobbsey family consisted of Snap, the big dog who once had been in a circus and could do tricks, and Snoop, the black cat. These pets were taken along wherever the Bobbsey twins went on their Summer vaca» tions. For the Bobbseys used to spend each Summer either in the mountains or at the sea- shore. The second book tells about the good time they had in the country while the third one tells of their adventures at the shore. "The Bobbsey Twins at School," is the name of the fourth book, and in that I had the pleas- ure of telling you the many good times they had there. Later on they went to "Snow Lodge" and helped solve a mystery, while on . the houseboat, Bluebir4, where they spent one vacation, they found a "stowaway," and, if you want to know what that is, I advise you to read the book. "The Bobbsey Twins at Meadow Brook," is the name of the book just before this present one. On the farm of Uncle Daniel Bobbsey the twins had had a most glorious time, and they were on their way home in the train when A SUDDEN Siuf 23 the fresh air children got aboard, and Tommy Todd told the story about his lost father. Then had come the sudden stop, and Bert had seen the men with guns outside the train. "I tell you they are robbers, Nan," Bfert whispered to his sister. "Look, one of 'era has a mask on his face." "That's so," agreed Nan. "Oh, I wonder what it is !" "Don't be afraid !" exclaimed Bert. "I guess they won't come in this car. Father won't let them." By this time Flossie and Freddie had also seen the masked men with their guns standing along the track, and Freddie cried : "Oh, look! It's just like Ha'low^en. They've got false faces on !" Many in the car laughed at this. CHAPTER III SNAP AND SNOOP The train on which the Bobbsey twins wesr?. coming baek from the country had now been stopping for several minutes. There was no sign of a statit-n on either side of the track, as could be told oy those who put their heads out of the opened windows. And Mr. Bobbsey had not come back. "I wonder if anything has happened," re- marked Mrs. Bobbsey. "I'll go and find out, Mother," offered Bertl getting up from his seat, "No, indeed, I can't let you!" his mother -answered. "Your father would not like it. He may be back any moment." "I don't believe anything much has happened, ma'am," said a man across the aisle from Mrs. Bobbsey, "I can see some men up near the engine, but they ai"e talking and laughing." 24 SNAP AND SNOOP 25 "Then they aren't robbers," said Freddie to his older brother Bert, " 'cause robbers wouldn't laugh." "Well, if they're not train robbers why have they guns and false faces on?" asked Bert. "Maybe they're just making believe — same as when we have pretend-plays," put in Flossie "Do you pretend, and make believe?" asked Tomm]' Todd, of the two younger twins. ^ "Oh, yes, lots of times," Fredclie said. "We have heaps of fun that way ; don't you ?" "Sometimes," answered Tommy in a low voice. "Sometimes I pretend I have gone off in a ship, and that I've found my father. I make believe that he and I are sailing together. And oh ! how I wish it would come true !" "Maybe it will — some day," said Flossie softly, as she patted Tommy's hand which was on the back of the seat in front of her. "I must go out and see what is keeping your father," said Mrs. Bobbsey at last. "Some< thing must have happened. You children staj here with Dinah. Nan and Bert, you look aftei Flossie and Freddie." But there was no need for Mrs. Bobbsey 26 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME to leave the car for, just then, her husbandi came in. He, was smiling, and that seemed to show that nothing very serious was the mat- ter. "What is it?" asked Bert. "Are the men playing a game ?" Freddie de. manded. "Is the train off the track ?" asked one of the fresh air boys. "I hopes it is — that is. if no- body is hurt, 'cause then we won't have to go home, and maybe we can go back to the coun- try." "No, the train isn't off the track," answered" Mr. Bobbsey. "It's a hold-up by masked rub- bers." "There! What'd I tell you?" cried Bert to his brother and sisters. "I knew they were masked robbers." "But only make-believe," went on Mr; Bobb- sey, still smiling. "This is a hold-up, or .stop-' ping of the train, and a pretend robbery for moving pictures." "Moving pictures !" cried Mrs. Bobbsey. "Yes. There is a man up front, near the engine, with a moving picture camera. With SNAP AND SNOOP 2; him are some men and women, actors and ac- tresses, dressed up — some like passengers, such as we are, and others like robbers, with false races on. They wanted the train to stop so they could get a picture of that, for it would be a funny movie of a train robbery without a train to be seen." "And did they actually stop the train?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. "Yes. They held up a red flag and the engi- neer stopped. But it was all right, for he knew it was going to be done. It was all ar- ranged for ahead of time. Now, if you like, you may come out and see them take moving pictures." "Well, who would have thought that !" cried Bert. "I was sure the men with mask6 on were robbers. And they're only taking a moving picture." "I'd like to see it in a theatre afterward," said Nan. "Don't you remember what fun it was -when we were in the^ movies this Sum* mer"' "Were you in them, really?" asked Tomn^ as he followed the twins out of the car. 28 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME "Yes, we acted a little," said Bert. "There was a make-believe battle being taken near our uncle's farm. We went to watch. They fired cannon and guns, and had horses-^ " "And the men and horses were shot !" inter« rupted Freddie. "Only pretend, of course, but I was there and I was in the movies too. I acted and so did Nan. And I fell in the brook and the man made a moving picture of me do- ing that!" "Did they really?" asked one of the fresh air ladies of Mrs. Bobbsey. "Yes, the children were in the moving pic- tures a little" this Summer," explained Freddie's mother. "It was all unexpected, but we did not mind, for it was all outdoors. It was fun for them." Those of you who have read the book before this one will remember how Fred* die and the others really did act before the camera. "Say, I'd like to do that!" cried Tommy with shining eyes as he heard what the Bobb- seys had done. "It must have been great !" "It was fun," Freddie said. By this time they were out of the train, walk* SNAP AND SNOOP 25 lag up toward the engine. About it were men and women, and the children saw a man with a black box on three legs grinding away at a crank. "He's taking the moving pictures," said Bert. "Why — ^why !" exclairMed Flossie as she came closer. "It's the same man who took our pic- tures at Meadow Brook!" "So it is," agreed Nan. "It's Mr. Weston." "Yes, he's the same one," said Mr. Bobbsey. "I told him you children were on the train and h» asked me to fetch you up to see him." e said, *and I'm going on the ocean in a ship." "Are you? When?" asked Johnnie. * "When Tommy Todd and I start to I'^ok for his father. His father is lost at sea on i. desert island, like Robinson Crusoe, and we're goinf Jo find him." TOMMY'S TROUBLES 47 "Take me along!" begged Johnnie. "I'm not afraid of the ocean, even if it's deeper'n the lake. Take me with you." Freddie thought about it carefully. "V/ell, you may come if the ship is big enough," he said. "I promised to Jet Flossie come. She's going to cook. Oh, no, Dinah's going to cook. I forgot about that. We'll have to get a bigger ship, I guess, so's to make room for Dinah. I guess you may come, John- nie. I haven't counted how much money I've saved up, but I will soon." "Is Tommy Dodd going to help buy the ship?" asked Johnnie. "His name isn't Dodd, it's Todd," explained Freddie. "But he can't put in much money I guess, 'cause he's poor. He's a fresh air boy, but he's nice. He runs erfands for Mr. Fitch, the grocer. We met Tommy on the train." "Then ^f you put in the most money to buy the ship more'n half of it will be yours," said Johnnie, "and you can take as many as you like." "No, half of the ship is going to be Tommy's," insisted the little Bobbsey twiiT; 48 1HE BGBBSEY TWINS AT HOME " 'Cause it's his father we're going after, you see." i "That's so," admitted Johnnie. "Well, I'm coming anyhow. I'll put in some money to buy things to eat." "That'll be nice," said Freddie. "I forgot about eating. I'm hungry now. I think Dinah is making cookies. Let's go 'round to the kitchen to see." Flossie and Alice were up on the side porch, playing with their dolls, when Freddie and Johnnie ran around to the back door. Surely enough, Diijah was making cookies, and she gave the boys some. "Do you think we'd better save any of these for the time when we go on the ship?" asked Johnnie, as he took a bite out of his second cookie. "No, I don't guess so," replied Freddie. "We won't go for a week or two anyhow, and the cookies wouldn't keep that long. Anyhow, Dinah will make more. Say, I'll tell you what lefsdo!" "What?" "Go down to the lake and sail our boats.'" TOMMY'S TROUBLES 49 "All right But I don't want to fall in." "We'll go down to my father's lumber yard, and if we fall in, near the edge, we can yell and some of the men will pull us out. Come on!" Mrs. Bobbsey said Freddie might go, if he would be sure to be eareful. He was often allowed to visit his father's lumber yard, for it was known he would be safe there. And Johnnie's mother said he might go also. So the little fellows trudged away, leaving the girls to play dolls on the porch. Freddie and Johnnie had fun at the edge of the lake. They each had a small sailboat, and, holding the strings, which were fast to the toy vessels, the boys let the wind blow the boats out a way and then hauled them in again. , After a while, however, they grew tired of this, and Freddie said : "Let's go up to the office to see my father. He likes me to come to see him, and maybe he'll give us five cents for ice cream cones." "That'll be nice," said Johnnie. Mr. Bobbsey was very busy, for he had a great deal of work to do after having spent so 50 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME much time in the country that Summer. Bat he was glad to sec the boys. "Well, how's my little fireman this morn- ing?" he asked, catching Freddie up in his arms. "Have you put out any fires yet?" "Not yet. We've oeen playing boats." "And how are you, Johnnie?" went on Mr. Cobbsey, as he patted Freddie's playmate on the back. "Oh, I'm all right. I'm going in the ship with Freddie to help find Tommy Todd's father who's on a desert island." "Oh, you are; eh? Well, speaking of Tommy, that looks like him out there now." Mr. Bobbsey pointed to the outside office. There stood the boy Freddie and Flossie had talked to on the train. He was speaking to one of the clerks, who did not seem to want to let hirr. inside the railing. "That's A) right," called Mr. Bobbsey. "He may come in. What is it, Tommy ?" he asked kindly, as the clerk stepped aside. "I've come to do the errands, to earn the quartet you gave me yesterday," said the fresh air boy, as he came in. TOMMY'S TROUBLES 51 "Oh, there's no hurry about that," returned Mr. Bobbsey. "I don't know what errands I want done to-day." "Well, I'd like to do some," Tommy said. "I'd like to earn that money, and then, maybe, you'd have some more errands for me to run, afterward, so I could earn more money. I need it very much, and Mr. Fiteh hasn't any work for me to-day. I want to do all I can before . school opens," Tommy went on, " 'cause it gets dark early in the afternoon now, and my grand- mother doesn't like to have me out too late." "That's right. How is your grandmother, Tommy?" "She — she's sick," was the answer, and Tommy's voice sounded as though he had been crying, or was just going to do so. "Sick? That's too bad!" "That's why I want some more errands to do, so I can earn money for her. She was hungry when I got home yesterday, and I spent that money you gaye me — all but the five cents for car fare — to buy her things to eat. There wasn't anything in the house." "Oh, come now ! That's too bad !" said Mr. 53 THE BOBBSEY TWINS Xt HOMk Bobbsey. "We must look into this. Here, Freddie, yoii and Johnnie and Tommie go down to the corner and get some ice cream. It's a hot day," and he held out some money io Tommy. "I'll let you carry it," he said, "as the other boys might lose it. Get three ten cent plates of cream." Tommy seemed to hang back. "Could I have this one ten cent piece all for myself?" he asked. "Why, of course you may. There is a dime for each of you. Don't you like ice cream ?" "Oh, yes indeed. But I'd rather save this for my grandipother. I'm not very warm." "Now look here !" said Mr. Bobbsey with a laugh., "You spend that money for yourself and for Freddie and Johnnie. I'll see that your grandmother is taken care of. I'm going to telephone to my wife, now, to go down to see her." "Oh, all right, thank you!" cried Tommy, And then, when he had hurried off down to the ice cream store with Freddie and Johnnie, Mr. Bobbsey called up his wife at home >«ad asked her to see Mrs. Todd. TOMMY'S TROUBLES 53 Mrs. Bobbsey went to the little house on Lombard Street at once. She found Tommy's grandmother to be a nice woman, but quite ill from having worked too hard during the hot weather. She was very feeble. "But I must keep a home for Tommy," she said to Mrs. Bobbsey. "His father, my son, was lost at sea, and Tommy is all I have now- I don't mind the hard work when I'm well, but I don't feel good now." "Don't worry," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "We'll get you well and strong again, and then you can keep a htome for Tommy." Mrs. Todd told very much the same story Tommy had told — that her son. Tommy's father, had sailed away to sea, and after many days a passing vessel had lighted the wreck of his. Broken lifeboats were floating about the surface of the ocean, but no one ahve was foiuid in them. As there was no trace of Cap- tain Todd 01 any of the sailors, every one be- Keved they had all been drowned. "Tommy seems to think his father may be alive," said Mrs. Bobbsey. Mrs. Todd sighed. 54 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME "I sometimes used to think that myself," she said. "But now I have given up hope. It is over five years, and if my son were ahve he would have sent me some word before now. I wish he would come back, for then he would look after Tommy and me." It was not a nice place where Tommy lived with his grandmother, but Mrs. Todd did her best to keep the house neat and clean. Mrs. Bobbsey called in a doctor, and also sent a woman to nurse Mrs. Todd until she grew bet- ter, which she did in a few days. Then she could keep on with her sewing, by which she earned enough for her and Tommy to live on. But it was not a very good living they made, and they often did not have enough to eat. "I'll give j^ou some of my sewing to do," promised Mrs. Bobbsey, "and so will some la- dies I know." So, for a time at least, Mrs. Todd was to be taken care of. When she grew better she had as much work as she could do. But this was some time after the day when Tommy called at Mr. Bobbsey's office. That TOMMY'S TROUBLES 55 day, after the three boys had eaten their ice cream, Tommy went back to the lumber yard, and Mr. Bobbsey told him that Mrs. Bobbsey had gone to see Mrs. Todd. "And haven't you any errands I could do for you to-day?" asked Tommy. "Not to-day, Tommy. But I may have later. , Don't worry about working out that twenty- five cents. I won't forget you, and you'll find your grandmother being taken care of when }rou get home." "I'll not forget about the ship we're going to buy either," promised Freddie, as he and Johnnie parted company from Tommy. "All right; and thank you." Nan and Bert, that day, had gone over to play with Ned Barton and Ellen Moore, chil- dren who lived near them, and they had a good time. "We want to have all the fun we can while we're at home here," said Nan, "for school will boon open." "Yes, and I'll be sort of glad," said Bert. "We're going to have a football team tbk year." 56 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME "We'll come to see you play; won't we, El« len ?" said Nan. "Yes, but I like baseball better than foot' ball." As Nan and Bert reached home, after visit- ing with their little friends, they heard screams from the side porch where Flossie and Alice had been playing dolls. "Oh, make him come back with it! Make him come back I" cried Flossie. "Something has happened !" exclaimed Bert, running around to the side of the house, fol- lowed by Nan. CHAPTER VI SCHOOL DAYS Bert saw his sister and her playmate, Alice Boyd, standing on the porch, looking very .much frightened. Alice had her doll held tightly in lier arms, but Flossie's doll could not be. seen. "What's the matter?" Bert asked. "It's a dog! A strange dog!" cried Flossie. "Oh, dear! He " "Did he bite you?" Nan asked quickly. "If he did " "No, he didn't bite me," answered the little girl. "But he ran up on the porch and took my best doll away in his mouth. Now he's gone around to the back yard, and I'm afraid he'll bite her. I called to him to come back, but he wouldn't." "Was it some dog Snap was playing with?'* asked Bert. $7 58 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME "No, it was a new dog. I'd never seen him before. Oh, dear! He'll bite my doll!" "It won't hurt her to be bitten a little," said Bert with a laugh. "You can't hurt dolls." "You can so !" sobbed Flossie, who was cry- ing real tears now. "And I don't want my best doll bitten." "Don't laugh at her, Bert," said Nan in a low voice. "Try to get her doll back for her." "I will," promised Bert. "Which wav did the dog go, Flossie ? Tell me." "He went around back of the house." "Maybe he thought your doll was a bone, and he's going to bury it," Bert said. "Was she a thin doll, Flossie ; thin like a bone ?" "No, she wasn't! She was a nice fat doll, with red cheeks! And I want her back. Oh dear!" "I'll get her for you," Bert said again. "I'm glad the dog didn't take my doll," broke in Alice. "I'll let you play ,with mine, Flossife." "Thank you, but I — I want my own dear doll!" and Flossie sobbed harder than before. ■'Never mind, Brother Bert will get her from the dog," said Nan. "Don't cry." SCHOOL DAYS 59 "I — I can't help it," Flossie said, though she did try to stop crying. Bert ran around the comer of the house. Then he laughed so loudly that Nan knew it must be all right and she said: "Come on, Flossie and Alice. We'll go and see what Bert has found." They found Bert looking at the strange dog, who was standing in front of Snoop. And Snoop had her back arched up round ; her tail was as large as a sausage, and her fur stuck out all sorts of ways, while she made a hissing sound like a steam radiator. "What'" the matter, Bert?" asked Nan. "Why, I guess the strange dog was run-_ ning through our yard with Flossie's doll in his mouth when Snoop saw him and ran at him," said Bert. "Snoop doesn't like strarige dogs, and she must have made quite a fuss at this one, for he dropped the doll. I'll get her for you, Flossie." The little twin's doll lay on the grass where the dog had dropped it when the cat chased after him. For all I know he may have thought it was a bone and have wanted to bury it. 60 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOM« Bert picked up the doll from the grass. "There she is, Flossie," he said, "Not hu?1 a bit, and as good as ever." "Thank you," Flossie answered, hugging het doll close in her arms. "Now we can go on playing, Alice." They went back on the porch, and the strange dog gave a bark. This seemed to make Snoop angry, for she hissed louder than ever and made her tail even larger than before. Then she walked toward the dog. But he did not wait even to rub noses with her, as Snap did. With a howl the dog ran back and jumped over the fence. "Snoop drove him away," laughed Nan. "She is as good at driving strange dogs away as Snap would be. Wasn't it funny the dog should go up on the porch, and take Flossie's doll?" "It was better to do that than bite her," said Bert'. When Freddie came back from the lumber yard that day he told of Tommy's visit, and Mrs. Bobbsey told of having helped his grand- mother. Mrs. Bobbsey also told what Mrs. SCHOOL DAYS 6l Todd had said of her missing son, who was shipwrecked. "Bert, please hand me down my bank," said Freddie to his brother after supper. "What for?" Bert asked. "I must count my money and see if I have enough to help buy a ship for Tommy Todd. He and I are going off in a ship to look for his father." "Now look here, Freddie," said Mr. Bobb- sey. "I want you to have all the fun you can, and play with Tommy whenever you can, and I want you to be kind and to help people. I also wish, as much as you, that we could find Tommy's father, if he is still alive. But yoi» must not run oiif to sea without telling us." Sometimes Freddie, and Flossie too, used tc get queer ideas about what they wanted to do, and once or twice they had run away together. Once it was to go to the circus, away on the other side of the city, and again it was to follow a hand-organ man and a monkey.^ Freddie's father, hearing him talk so much about getting a ship in which to search for Mr. Todd, thought the little boy might be too much in 62 THE BOBBSEY IWINS AT Ho*IE earnest and would really go ofi where he ougfit not. , "So don't start off on any voyage without telling us," said Mr. Bobbsey.' "I won't," promised Freddie. "First I must sec how much money I have saved up." His bank was a kind that could be opened and closed, and for some time Freddie and Flossie were busy counting the pennies. "Well, how much have you ?" asked Bert. "Flossie says there are only fifty-six cents," Freddie answered, "but I counted seventy. Flossie can't count as high as I can, anyhow." "I can so 1" cried the fat little girl. "Now children, be nice," begged Mother Bobbsey. "I'll count the money for you," offered Bert. "Seventy-nine cents," he told Freddie, after he had finished. "And here's a penny of mine I'll give you. That makes eighty cents." > "Is that 'most enough to buy a ship. Daddy?" asked the little fellow. "Oh no, my dear boy. You'll need lots more money than that. So keep on saving, and don'l go off without letting us know." SCHOOL DAYS ^ "All right," Freddie s&ik with a sigh. "D« you think I'll have enough saved in a week?" "I can tell you better when the week is up," laughed Mr. Bobbsey. "School begins in a week," said Nan. "You can't go off on a ship when you have to go to school, Freddie." "That's so. Well, I'll keep on saving, and when school is but again Tommy and I will g« off in the ship to find his father." The Bobbsey twins had as much fun as they could in the week of vacation that remained. They and their playmates met together and went on little walks in the woods, or rowed on the river. Bert and Nan were allowed to go out in a safe boat, near their father's lumber dock, and Flossie and Freddie were allowed to go also, for they sat very still, and never tried to change seats when the boat was out in the water. This is very dangerous to do, and often boats are upset that way. Then, one morning, as Freddie awoke in his little bed, he heard his mother calling : "Come on, little fireman. Time to get up !'' "Is there a fire ?" asked Freddie, eagerly. 64 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME "No, but school begins to-day and you don't want to be late. Come on then, get up. You too, Flossie." "Aren't Nan and Bert going?" asked Fred- die. "Yes, but they were up long ago. I let you two little twins sleep longer. But now it is time to get up." After breakfast Flossie and Freddie started for school together. They were in the same class, and had just left the kindergarten. So Flossie and Freddie set off together, ahead of Nan and Bert. The smaller twins had to do this because their legs were shorter than either Nan's or Bert's and they could not walk as fast. "Ding-dong!" rang the school bell, calling the Bobbsey twins and other children back to their lessons, after the long, Summer vacation. "Oh, there's Susie Simmon!" cried Flossie, as she saw a girl she knew. "I'm going to walk with her, Freddie." "All right. I see Jimmie Brooks. I'll go with him." The four little ones hurried along together. SCHOOL DAYS gc V talking of the fun they had had that Summer. A little behind came Nan and Bert. With them walked Ellen Moore and Ned Bartoa, who lived near the Bobbsey house. There were merry times in the school yard before it was time for the last bell to ring. The boys and girls played tag, and ran about. Some boys had tops and spun them, or played mar- bles. The girls did not bring their dolls or toys to school, and the reason for this is that girls don't have pockets in their dresses. Or, if they do have a pocket, it is too small to hold more than a handkerchief. I think the girls ought to get together and insist on having pock- ets made in their dresses. It isn't fair for the boys to have so rnany. "Ding-dong!" rang the bell again. "Come in, children !" called the teacher, and in went the Bobbsey twins and the others. "Oh look, Freddie! There goes Tommy Todd!" whispered Flossie to her brother, as they marched to their room. The teacher heard Flossie, and said: . "You must not whisper in school." "I won't any more," promised Flossie. "I 66 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME haven't been in school for so long that I for- got," and all the other children laughed. Tommy Todd was in a class ahead of Flos- sie and Freddie. He looked across at them and Sttniled, for the teacher did not mind any one's smiling in school. But when one whispered it disturbed those who wanted to study their lessons. It was almost time for the morning recess, and Flossie and Freddie were saying their les- sons, when from the next room, where Bert and Nan sat, came a sound of laughter. Thei. sounded a loud bark— "Bow-wow !" "Oh, it's a dog!" exclaimed Flossie aloud, before she thought. "That sourids like our Snap!" said Freddie, almost at the same time. "Childrei;!, you must be quiet!" called the teacher. Just then the door betWeen the two rooms was pushed open, and in walked Snap, wagging his tail. He looked at the teacher, he looked at the other children, and then, with a joyful iark, he ran up to Flossie and Freddie. CHAPTER VII THE SCHOOL PLAY "Snap ! Snap !" cried Freddie, as he left his seat and put his arms around the dog's neck. "Good dog, Snap!" Snap liked to be petted, and he wagged his tail faster than before and barked. Flossie saw a queer look on her teacher's face, and the Httle girl said : "Snap, you must be quiet. You musn't bark in school tiriy more than we must whisper. I didn't want to speak out loud," she said to the teacher, "but I had to, or Snap wouldn't hear me. "Oh, that part's all right, my dear," the teacher said kindly, "But how did your dog get here?" "I — I don't know," answered Flossie, while Freddie kept on petting Snap. Just th?n the door of the other school roona. 68 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME in which Nan and Bert studied, opened, and the teacher from there came in. She was a new one. "Is that dog here.'"' she asked. Then she could see that Snap was there. The children in Flossie's room were laughing now. Some of the pupils from the other room were stand- ing in the doorway behind the teacher, looking in. "Whose dog is that ?" the new teacher asked. "He's ours, if you please," said Bert. "Did you bring him to school?" "No, ma'am. He must have got loose," an- swered Nan. "He was chained up when we left for school this morning, and he must have ^ot lonesome and come to find us." "Well, he found you all right," said Flos- sie's teacher with a laugh. "The doors are •open, because it is so warm," she said to the new teacher, "so Snap had no trouble in getting in. He never came to school before, though." "He's like Mary's little lamb, isn't he?" asked Freddie. "Well, he must be put out," said the new teacher, smiling. "Of course it wasn't the fault THE SCHOOL PLAY 6$ of you children that he came in. But you had better take him home I think, Bert. And see that he is well chained. I'll excuse you from dass long enough to take your dog home. Now, children, go back to your seats." "Say, Bert," whispered Ned Barton, "I'll help you take Snap home if you want me to." "No, indeed!" laughed the new teacher, "One boy is enough to have out of the class at a time. I think Bert can manage the dog alone." "Yes ma'am, I can," said Bert. "Come on. Snap!" Snap barked and wagged his tail again. He was happy as long as he was with one of the children. "Our dog can do tricks," said Freddie. "Make him do a trick, Bert, before you take him home. Snap used to be in a circus," Fred- die told the teacher, "and he can turn somer- saults. Don't you want to see him do a trick, / teacher ?" "Oh, yes, please let him," begged Flossie. The other children Igoked eager, and the leadier smiled. The new teacher had gone 7© THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME back to her classroom with her pupils, except Bert, who had stayed to look after Snap. "Well, as it is almost time for recess, I don't mind if ^ert makes Snap do one or two tricks," Flossie's teacher said, smiling. "But only two. School isn't just the place for dogs." "Ready Snap!" called Bert. "March like a soldier!" "You may take my blackboard pointer for a gun," the teacher said. Snap stood up on his hind legs, and in one paw he held the long pointer. Then he marched around the room as nearly like a soldier as a dog can march. The children laughed and clapped their hands. "Now turn a somersault!" ordered Bert. This Snap did, too. This was one of his best tricks. Over and over he went around the school room, outside the rows of desks. This made the children laugh more than before. "I think that will be enough, thank you, Bert," the teacher said. "You had better take the dog home now." Bert did so, and saw to it that Snap was well chained. THE SCHOOL PLAY 71 "We like to see you," said Bert as he was fcaving to go back to his class, "but you must mot come to school after us. Snap." At recess, which was nearly over when Bert got back to school, the children talked and laughed about Snap's visit. "I wish your dog would come to school every day," said Alice Boyd to Flossie. "Yes, wouldn't it be fun to have him do tricks," cried Johnnie Wilson. But Snap did not get loose again, and he soon got used to having the children away most of the day. But how glad he was when they came home, and he could romp and play with them! One day Flossie's teacher said to the class: "Now, children, you have been very good this week, and you have known your lessons Vvell, so I think it is time Ave had a little fun." "Oh, are you going to let Snap come to school again?" asked Edna Blake. "No, hardly that," the teacher answered with a smile, "but we shall have a little play. • I'll fix some curtains across the platform where my desk stands, and that will be the stage. You 72 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MOME children — at least some of you — will be the actors and actresses. It will be a very simple little play, and I think you can do it. If you do it well perhaps we may give our play out on the large platform in the big room before the whole school." "We had a play in Uncle Dan's bam once in the country," said Flossie. "I was in it, too," spoke up Freddie, "and I fell down in a hen's nest and got all eggs." Even the teacher laughed at this. "Well, we hope you'll not fall in any hen's nest in our little school play," said the teacher. She picked out Flossie, Freddie, Alice Boyd, Johnnie Wilson and some others to be in the play, and they began to study their parts. The play was to be called "Mother Goose and her Friends," and the children would take the parts of the different characters so well known to all. The, teacher was to be Mother Goose herself, with a tall peaked hat, and a long stick. ' "And will you ride on the back of a goosey- gander?" Freddie asked. "It's that way in the book." "hsK SCHOOL PLAY 73 "No, I hardly think I shall ride on the back of a gander," answered the teacher. "But we will have it as nearly like Mother Goose as we can. You will be Little Boy Blue, Freddie, for you have blue eyes." "And what can I be?" asked Flossie. "I think I'll call you Little Miss Muflfet." "Only I'm not afraid of spiders," Flossib said. "That is I'm not afraid of them if they don't get on me. One can come and sit down beside me and I won't mind." "I guess for the spider we'll get a make- believe one, from the five-and-ten-cent store." said Miss Earle, the teacher. "Now I'll give out the other parts." There were about a dozen children who were to take part in the little play. They were to dress up with clothes which they could bring from home. Freddie had a blue suit, so he looked exactly like Boy Blue. One Friday afternoon the little play was given in the school room. The teacher had strung a wire across in front of her platform, and had hung a red curtain on this. Flossie, Freddie and the other players were behind th« t 74 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOMR curtain, while the remaining children sat at their desks to watch the play. "Are you all ready now ?" asked Miss Earle of the children behind the curtain. "All ready' I'm going to pull the curtaiti back in a minute. Remember you are to walk out first, Freddie, and you are to make a bow and then look to the left, then to the right and say : 'Oh, I won- der where she can be?' Then along comes Flossie, as Little Miss Mufifet, and she asks you whom you are looking for." "Yes, and then I say I'm looking for Mary, who had a little lamb, for I lent her my horn, and she went away with it to help Bo-Peep find her sheep; and now I can't blow my horn to get the cows out of the corn," Freddie said. "That's it !" exclaimed the teacher in a whis- per, for they had all talked in low voices behind ithe curtain, so the other children Would not Shear them. "You remember very well,. Fred- die. Now we will begin." The curtain was pulled back, and Freddie "walked out from one side where some boxes hfid been piled up to look like a house. "Oh, I wonder where she can be," said THE SCHOOL PLAY 75 ' '*»* Freddie, looking to the left and to the right. "Where can she be?" "Whom are you looking for?" asked Flos- sie, coming out from the other side of the, plat- form. "For Mary, who had a little lamb," went on Freddie. "I lent her my horn and " But just then there was a crash, and down tumbled the pile of boxes that was the make- 'believe house, and with them tumbled John- nie Wilson, who was dressed up like Little Jack Horner. "Oh, I've hurt my thumb! I've hurt my thumb !" he cried. "Now I can't pull the plum out of the pie!" CHAPTER VIII SNOOP IN TROUBLE Some of the children laughed. Somte screamed. Others looked as if they wanted to cry. Of course the play came to an end almost before it had started. "Oh Johnnie, why did you do that?" cried Miss Earle, hurrying out in her Mother Goose dress, and picking up the little fellow. "How did it happen?" Johnnie had started to cry, but, finding that he was not hurt much except on his thumb, he stopped his tears, and said: "I climbed up on the pile of boxes so I could see better, and they fell over with me." "They weren't put there to be climbed on,** the teacher said with a smile. "I'm glad it is no worse. You came on the stage before it was your turn, Johnnie. Now we'U try it over again." ;6 SNOOP IN TRCuBtE 77 By this time the other children had become quieter, having seen that nothing much had happened. The janitor was sent for and he put the boxes up again, this time nailing them together so they would not fall over. "But you must not climb on top of them ?gain," said Miss Earle. "No'm, I won't," promised Johnnie. "Now start over again, Freddie," the teacher told the little blue-eyed chap, and once more he walked out and pretended la look for Mary. Then Flossie walked out, and this time the play went off very well. Mother Goose came on when it was her turn and she helped Boy Blue and Miss Muffet look for Mary and the lost horn. It was finally found in Jack Horner's pie, which was a big one made of a shoe box. And Johnnie, as Jack Horner, pulled out the horn instead of a plum. His sore thumb did not bother him much. "Well, did you like the play?" the teacher asked the other children, who had only looked efi. "It was finer' they all said. "We'd like to see it again." 78 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME "Well, perhaps you may," returned Miss Earle. "Would you like to act it before the whole school?" she asked of Flossie, Freddie and the other little actors and actresses. "Yes, teacher!" they said in a chorus. "Then you shall." A week later the play was given on the large stage in the big room where there was a real curtain and real scenery. The little Mother Goose play went off very well, too, for the chil- dren knew their parts better. And Johnnie Wilson did not fall down off a pile of boxes. The only thing which happened, that ought not to, was when Flossie sang a little song Miss Earle wrote for her. When she had finished, Flossie, seeing Nan out in the audience, stepped to the" edge of the stage and asked: "Did I sing that all right. Nan?" for Nan had been helping her little sister learn the piece. Every one laughed when Flossie asked that, for, of course, she should not have spoken, but only bowed. But it was all right, and really it made fun, which, after all, was what the play was for. SNOOP IN TROUBLE 79 "We'll have to get up a play ourselves, Nan," said Bert to his sister when school was out, and the Mother Goose play had ended. "I like to act." "So do I," said Nan. "I'd like a play about soldiers and pirates," went on Bert. "I know something about pirates," cried Tommy Todd. "My father used to tell me about them." "Say, you'd do fine for a pirate !" cried Bert "You know a lot about ships and things ; don't you?" "Well, a little," said Tommy. "I remem- ber some of the things my father told me when he was with us. And my grandmother knows a lot. Her husband was a sailor and she has sailed on a ship." "Then we'll ask her how to be pirates when we .get ready for our play," Bert decided. "How is your grandma ?" Nan inquired. "Well, she's a little better," said Tommy, "but not very well. She has to work too hard, I guess. I wish I were bigger so I wouldn't bave to go to school. Then I could work." So THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME "Po you still run errands for Mr. Fitch?" asked Ben. "I do when he has any. And I did some for your father. He says I have earned the quar- ter he gave me, and I'm glad, for I don't want to owe any money. I'm hoping your father will have more errands for me to do after school. I'm going to stop in and ask him on Saturday. I like Saturdays for then I can work all day." "Don't you like to play ?" asked Nan. "Oh, yes, of course. But I like to earn money for my grandmother too, so she wdn't have to work so hard." Bert and Nan felt sorry for Tommy, and Bert made up his mind he would ask his father to give the fresh air boy some work to do so he could earn money. It was now October, and the weather was beautiful. The Bobbsey twins had much fun at home and going to and from school. The leaves on the trees were beginning to turn all sorts of pretty colors, and this showed that colder weather was coming. "We'll have lots of fun this Winter," said SNooP IN TRotf JLE 8t Bert one day, as he and his brother and sisters went home from school together, kicking their way through the fallen leaves. "We'll go coast- ing, make snow men and snow forts and go skating." "I'm going to have skates this year. Mother said so," cried Freddie. "You're too little to skate," declared Bert. "Oh, I'll show him how, and hold him up," offered Nan. , "Skating is fun." ' "It isn't any fun to fall in the ice water though," Flossie said. "Well, we won't go skating until the ice is good and thick," said Bert, "then we won't break through and fall in." When the children reached the house they found Mrs. Bobbsey and Dinah busy taking the furniture out of the parlor, and piling it in the sitting room and dining room. "What's the matter ?" asked Bert in surprise. "Are we going to move ?" "No. But your lather has sent up a mai to varnish the parlor floor, and we have to ge. the chairs and things out of his way," said Mrs. Bobbsey. 82 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME "An' yo' chilluns done got t' keep outen dat pariah when de varnish-paint is dryin'," said Dinah, shaking her finger at the twins. "Ef yo' done walks on de varnished floors . whe« dey's not dry, yo' all will stick fast an' yo' can't get loose." "That's right„" laughed the children's mother. "You will have to keep out of the par- lor while the floors are drying." The Bobbsey twins watched the painter put the varnish on the floor. The varnish was like a clear, amber paint and made the floor almost as shiny as glass, so it looked like new. "There !" exclaimed the painter when he had finished. "Now don't walk on the floor until morning. Then the varnish will be dry and hard, and you Vvon't stick fast. Don't any of you go in." "We won't," promised the twins. Then they had to study their iessons for school the next day, and, for a time, they forgot about the newly varnished floor. It was after supper that Flossie asked if Nan could not pop a 'ittle corn to eat. "Yes." answered Mother Bobbsey. "A lit- SNOOP IN TROUBLE 83 tie popped corn will not be harmful, I think. I'll get the popper." Nan shelled some of the white kernels of corn into the wire popper, and shook it over the stove. Pretty soon : Pop ! Pop ! Poppity- pop-pop ! was heard, and the small kernels burst into big, pnes, as white as snow. Nan was just pouring the popped corn out into a dish when there sounded through the house. a loud: "Meaou!" "What's that?" asked Flossie. "It sounded like Snoop," said Bert. "It is Snoop!" declared Freddie. "Meaou!" was cried again, and in such a queer way that the children knew their cat was in some kind of trouble. "Snoop I Where are you ?" called Nan. "Meaou ! Meaou I" came the answer. "She's down cellar and wants to come up," Bert said. But when the cellar door was opened no cat popped up, as Snoop always did if she happened to be shut down there. Then they heard her crying voice again. 84 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME "Oh, I know where she is!" exclaimed Mother Bobbsey. "Where?" asked the children. "In the parlor — on the newly varnished floor! That's what makes her voice sound so funny- — it's the empty room." "Well, if Snoop is in the parlor she's stuck fast! That's what's the matter!" cried Bert. "Oh! oh!" exclaimed Freddie. "Our cat caught fast !" "Poor Snoop!" wailed Flossie. "We must help her !" Nan said. The whole family hurried to the parlor. There, in the light from the hall, they saw the .;at. Snoop was indeed in trouble. She stood near the parlor door, all four feet held fast in the sticky varnish, which, when half dry, is stickier than the stickiest kind of fly-paper. Snoop, in wandering about the house as she pleased, which she always did, had come to the parlor. The door had been leit open so the varnish would dry more quickly, and Snoop had gone in, not knowing anything about the sticky floor. The big black cat had taken a few steps aoi SNOOP IN TROUBLE 851 tiien, her paws having become covered with the sticky varnish, she had become stuck fast, just far enough inside the room so she could not be reached from the door. "Oh, will she have to stay stuck there for- ever?" asked Freddie. "Pull her loose. Mother !" begged Flossie. "If you step on the floor to get her, you'll stick fast too," warned Bert. "Wait a minute, children," said Mrs. Bobb- sey. "I must think what is best to do. I wish your father were home." Snoop, seeing her friends near, must have known she would now be taken care of. for she stopped meaouing. CHAPTER IX NAN BAKES A CAKE "Come on, Snoop! Come on out!" called Flossie to the pet, black cat. Snoop tried to raise first one paw, and then the other to come to her little mistress, but the sticky varnish held her fast. "You'll have to pull her loose. Mother," said Bert. "It's the only way." "I guess she's stuck so fast that if you pulled her up you'd pull her paws off and leave them sticking to the floor," observed Nan. "Oh, don't do that!" begged Freddie. "We don*t want a cat without any paws." "DoTi't worry, dear," his mother said. "I'll not pull Snoop's paws off. But I wonder how I'm going to get her loose. I don't want ta step in there and make tracks with my shoes all over the newly varnished floor. "Snoop has made some marks as it is," went 86 NAN BAKES A CAKE BfK on Mrs. Bobbsey, "but perhaps the painter can go over them with his brush in the morning so they won't show. We ought to have shut Snoop up, I suppose. Let me see now, how can I get her loose ?" "Telephone to papa," suggested Bert. "He'll know of a way." "I believe I will do that," Mrs. Bobbsey said. Mr. Bobbsey had gone down to the office that evening to look over some books and papers about his lumber business, and he had not yet come back. In a few minutes Mrs. Bobbsey was talking to him over the telephone. "What's that?" cried Mr. Bobbsey. "Snoop stuck fast on the varnished floor? I'll be. home at once. It won't hurt her, but of course we must get her loose. Don't worry, and tell the twins not to worry. I'll make it all right." And this is how Mr. Bobbsey did it. When he got home he found a can of turpentine which had been left by the painter. Turpentine will soften varnish or paint and make it thin, just , as water will make paste soft. Mr. Bobbsey laid a board on the floor from the door-sill, €)ver close to where poor Snoop was held fast. 88 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME Then he poured a little turpentine around eaca of the four feet of the cat, where her paws were held fast in the varnish. In a little while the varnish had softened, and Mr. Bobbsey could lift Snoop up and hand her to his wife. Then he took up the board, and washed from Snoop's paws what remained of the varnish. She was all right now, and purred happily as Flossie and Freddie took turns holding her. "But the floor is spoiled — or that part is where you poured the turpentine," said Mrs, Bobbsey. "The painter will varnish that part ovet when he comes in the morning," said Mr. Bobb- sey. "Then we must keep Snoop out of the way until it dries." And this was done. The floor was gone over again with the varnish brush, and the marks of Snoop's paws did not show. Nor did the cat again go into the parlor until the floor < was hard and dry. "Mother," asked Nan one day, about a week after Snoop had been stuck fast in the var* nish, "may I have a little party?" NAN BAKES A CAKE 89 "A party, Nan?" "Yes, just a few boys and girls from my class m school. The parlor looks so nice now, with the new floor, that I'd like to give a party. May I?" "Well, yes, I guess sd," answered Mrs. Bobb- sey. "How many would you invite?" "About a dozen. We could have sand- wiches, ice cream and cake. I could bake a cake myself." "Well, you might try. I have showed you how to make a simple cake, that is not too rich for little stomachs. You might bake a sponge cake, and put icing on top. Yes, I think you .nay have a party, Nan." "Oh, thanif you. Mother. Now I'll write the invitations." "I'll help you," offered Flossie. "I'm afraid, dear, you can't write quite well enough;' said Nan with a smile. "But you may seal the envelopes for me, and put on the postage stamps." "Oh, I like to do that !" cried Flossie. "The sticky stuff on the stamps tastes so nice on your tongue." 50 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME "It is better to wet the enevelope flaps and the sticky side of the stamps with a damp cloth or a sponge than with your tongue," said Mother Bobbsey. "I'll show yoji the way." So when Nan had written out the invitations on some cards, she and Flossie put them in en- velopes. Then Mrs. Bobbsey gave them each a little sponge, which they dampened in water, and with that they moistened the sticky place?, both of the stamps and the envelopes. And so the invitations were made ready to mail. "Have you invited any boys to the party?* asked Bert. "Yes, some," answered Nan. "But only a few." "Then I'll come," he said. "I don't like a. party with just nothing but girls." "And I'll help Nan bake her cake." offered Flossie. "So will I," added Freddie. "I like to clean out the cake dishes, and eat the sweet dough and the icing." "Oh, I want to do some of that, too '" cried Flossie. "I can see what kind of a time you're going NAN BAKES A CAKE )i to have making your cake!" laughed Bert, "with those two youngsters hanging around." "Oh, I'll take care of them," said Nan, smil- ing. "Goin' t' bake a pake, is yo' ?" asked Dinah, when Nan came out in the kitchen the next Sat- urday, which was the date of the party. "Don't yo' all t'ink yo'd bettah let me make it f o' yo' ?" "No, thank you, Dinah, I want to make it myself," said Nan. "I want to show the girls and boys that I know how to make a cake al- most, if not quite, as well as you and mother make them." "Well, honey, ef yo' makes a cake as good as yo' ma, den yo' will suttinly be a fine cook," returned Dinah. "Fo' yo' ma is suah a prime cake-maker !" ' "Oh, I don't suppose the cake will be as good as mother's," said Nan, "but still I'll never learn if I don't try." So Nan began her cake. Flossie and Fred- die were playing out in the yard, but when they saw Nan in the kitchen, in they came, running. "I'm going to help !" cried Freddie. "So'm I," added his sister. j^ THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME "Well, there's not much you can do," said Nan, "except to hand me the things I need. First I'm going to get everything together on the table, and then I won't have to fuss around, and get in Dinah's way." ' "Gh, yo' won't be in mah way, honey-lamb !" said the loving old colored woman. "Jest make yo'se'f right t' home." Nan got from the pantry the eggs, the flour, the sugar, and the other things that were needed to make a sponge cake. Then whe* 1 she had the brown bowl ready in which tLe cake batter would be mixed she sat down on a high stool at the table, with Flossie on one side and Freddie on the other. "Now, Flossie, you hand me an egg," said Nan, and Flossie picked one up from the dish. She was handing it over to her sister, but her chubby fingers slipped and — crack! went the egg down on the floor, breaking, of course. "Oh dear!" cried Flossie. "Now the cake is spoiled !" "Oh, no, not because one egg is broken," said Nan. "But still we must be more careful. Perhaps I had better handle the eggs myself." NAN BAKES A CAKE % "You had if you want any cake," called Bert, looking in through the window on his way to play ball with Ned Barton and Charley Mason. "Oh, I guess we'll make out all right/', laughed Nan. She broke the eggs into the dish, and then she let Flossie and Freddie take turns in handing her the flour, sugar, and other things she needed; things that could not be broken if little hands dropped them. But noth- ing more was dropped, though Nan herself did spill a little flour on the floor. "Is this batter right now, Dinah?" Nan asked, when she had stirred up the cake mix- ture with a long spoon. The cook looked in the brown bowl. "Jest a leetle mo' flour," she said, "den it'll be stiff enough an' ready f o' de oven. An' after it's baked yo' kin mix up de sugar-icin' t' go on de top." Nan stirred in more flour and then poured the batter into a pan to be baked in the oven of the stove. She carried the pan carefully across the kitchen. "Don't fall and spill it," called Flossie. "I'll trv not to." Nan said. 94 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME Just then into the kitchen with a rush came Snap. He saw Nan with a pan in her hands, and he must have thought she had something for him to eat, for with a joyful bark he made straight for her. ■ "Oh, hold him back! Don't let him come near me or I'll spill my cake before it's baked!" cried Nan. "Hold Snap, Flossie — Freddie!" "We will !" cried the smaller twins. Both of them made a rush for Snap, and caught him by the collar. But the dog thought this was sonie funny game, and, wagging his tail, he pulled the two children across the slip- pery oilcloth of the kitchen floor. "Hold him back ! Hold him !" begged Nan. She was almost at the oven now. If she could get the cake safely in it she would be all right, for Snap would not go near the stove. "We — we can't hold him!" panted Freddie. "He's pulling us too — too hard !" Snap, indeed, was dragging the little Bobb- sey twins right across the room toward Nan, who was moving slowly toward the stove. She could not move fast for fear of spilling the cake batter, or dropping the pan. MAN BAKES A CAKE 95 "Dinah! Dinah!" called Flossie, to the col- ored cook who had gone into the dining room for a moment. "Come quick, or Nan won't have any cake. Snap wants it !" I don't suppose that the dog really wanted the cake batter, though he liked sweet things. But he thought Nan had his dinner in the pan. However, before he could get near enough to her to "jiggle" her arm, and make her drop the pan, Dinah came in. "Heah, you Snap!" cried the cook with a laugh. "Yo" done got t' git outen dish yeah kitchen when cake-bakin' am goin' on 1" She reached for Snap's collar, and, as Dinah was very strong, she managed to hold the big dog, who was barking and wagging his tail faster than ever. He thought they were all playing with him. "Hurry, honey!" called Dinah to Nan. "Snap's pullin' away from me a little." Nan reached the oven, and put the cake in, closing the door. "There I" she cried. "Now it's all right, and you can let go of Snap!" "An' he'd bettah git outdoors where he kio 96 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME romp around t' suit hisse'f," added Dinah, "Kitchens ain't no place fo' dogs when bakin's goin' on." So Snap was put outside, with a nice bone to gnaw, and he did not feel unhappy. Flos- sie and Freddie cleaned out the brown bowl, on the sides and bottom of which were bits of the sweet cake batter. And after Nan had mixed up sugar and water to make icing to go on top of the cake, the two little twins cleahed out that dish also. Finally Nan's cake was done. It was taken from the oven, being a lovely brown in color, and, after it had cooled, the icing was put on top. Then the cake was put away for the party. Everyone one, whom Nan had invited, came that night. There were more than a dozen, counting the Bobbsey twins, arid they all had a good time. They played a number of games, ending with hide-and-go-seek. Freddie wanted to "blind" and look for the others, so they let him do it. One after another "the others stole away on tiptoe, while Freddie stood with his head in a corner that he might NAN BAKES A CAKE gj not see whtre they hid. Each boy and each girl picked out a place where he thought Fred- die would not see him. "Ready or not I'm coming," called the little boy at last. Then he opened his eyes and started to look for the hidden children. The piano in the par- lor stood out a little way from the wall, and Freddie thought that would be a good place for some one to hide. He thrust his head be- hind it, to see if any one was back of it, there being just about room enough for him to dc this. No one was there, but when Freddie tried to pull his head out again it would not come. "Oh! oh!" he cried, and his voice sounded queer, coming from behind the piano. "Oh. I'm stuck! I'm caught fast just like Snoop, only worse ! Papa ! Mamma ! Come and get me out of the piano !" CHAPTER X IN THE LUMBER YARD From all sorts of hiding places came run- ning the boys and girls who had been playing hide-and-seek. Freddie's voice told every one that he was in trouble. "bh, Freddie!" cried Flossie, who had hid- den under the couch in the dining room. "What's the matter? Where's your head?" For she saw only her brothier's little fat fegs and plump body near the piano. "Where's your head, Freddie?" she cried. "It's in behind here!" the chubby little fel- low replied. "I can't get it out from behind the piano ! My ears stick out so far they catch on th? edge of the piano." By this time Nan had come from her hiding place, and she made her way through the crowd of children who were looking in wonder at the sight of Freddie so caught. 98 Ilr THE LUMBER YARD 99 "Oh, Frftddic, how did it happen?" asked Nan. "Don't ask him how it happened," said Bert. "Let's get him out, and he'll tell us after- ward." "Yes, do get me out !" begged Freddie. Bert and Nan took hold of their little brother and tried to pull him out backward. But he seemed stuck quite fast. "Can't you push yourself out?" asked Bert. "I'll try," said Freddie bravely. So he pushed backward as hard as he could, while Bert and Nan pulled. "Let me help, too !" begged Flossie. "I wani tn get Freddie out,'" ' But there was no room for Flossie to get hold of her brother. Nan and Bert pulled once more, while Freddie himself pushed, but his head was still held fast between the back of the piano and the wall of the room. "Oh ! Oh ! Can't you get me loose ?" wailed the little "fireman." , "We'd better call mother !" cried Nan. But there was no need of this for Mrs. Bobb- se.y came hurrying into the room just then. JOO THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME She had heard Freddie's cries while she was up« stairs, and, guessing that something was wrong, she had come to see what it was. "Oh Freddie !" she exclaimed as soon as she saw what had happened. "You poor Httle boy!" "Oh, please get me out. Mamma !" he begged. "I will, in just a minute. Now stand still, and don't push or squirm any more, or you'll hurt yourself." Then Mrs. Bobbsey, instead ^>f trying to pull or push Freddie out, just shoved on the piano, moving it a little way out from the wall, for it had little wheels under it, and, as the flopr was smooth, it rolled easily. "There, now you can pull your head out," said Mrs. Bobbsey, and, surely enough, Fred- die could. The trouble had been, just as he had said, his ears. His head went in between the piano and wall all right, but when he went to pull himself loose, after seeing that no one was hiding there, his ears sort of bent forward and caught him. "I — I'll never do that again !" Freddie said, his face very red, as he straightened up. IN THE LUMBER YARD lol "No, I wouldn't if I were you," returned his mother with a smile. "Never put your head or your arm in any place unless you are sure you can get it out again. Sometimes a cat will put her head in a tin can to get whatever there may be in it to eat. And the edges of the tin catch on her ears just as yours were caught, Freddie. So be careful after this." Freddie promised that he would, and then the hiding game went on. Only Freddie, you may be sure, did not look behind the piano again, and no one hid there. "Oh, your party .was perfectly lovely, Nan!" said the girls and boys when they had finished their games, and had eaten the good things Mrs. Bobbsey set on the table. "Wasn't the cake good?" asked Freddie, looking as though he wanted a second piece. "Indeed it was, dear," said Ellen Moore. "We helped Nan make it," declared Flossie. "Didn't we. Nan?" "Oh, yes, you helped some — ^by cleaning out the dishes." "And Snap nearly made Nan spill the cake when she was putting it in the oven," went op I02 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME Freddie. "Only wc helped hold him ; didn't we. Nan?" "Yes, you certainly helped there." At last the party was over, and Nan's cake, as well as the other good things, was all eaten up. Then the children went home. About a week after this the postman left some letters at the home of the Bobbsey twins. Mrs. Bobbsey smiled when she read one, and when Bert and Nan, Flossie and Freddie came home from school their mother said to them : "I have a surprise for you. See if you can guess what it is." "Freddie and, I are going to have a party !" guessed Flossie. "No, dear. No more parties right away." "We're going on a visit!" guessed Nan. "No indeed. We jtist came back from one." "Then 3ome one is coming here," guessed Bert. "That's it," his mother answered. "Uncle William Minturn and Aunt Emily, from Ocean Cliff, are coming to pay us a little visit." "And is Cousin Dorothy coming, too?" Nan asked. IN THE LUMBER YARD 103 "Yes, they will all be here in a few days now." "Oh, I'm so glad !" cried Nan, clapping her hands. "We shall have such fun !" "And can I have fun with you, too?" asked Flossie. "Yes, dear," Nan promised. "I wish Dorothy were a boy," put in Bert "Of course I like her, but I can't have any fuu with her. I wish Cousin Harry would come on from Meadow Brook. Then we could have a good time." "You had a good time with Harry this Sum- mer," suggested Mrs. Bobbsey. "I like Dorothy," said Freddie, "and I'm glad she's coming 'cause I want to ask her something very much." "What is it?" inquired Bert. "It's a secret," and Freddie looked very wise and important. A few days later Mr. and Mrs. Mintum and their daughter Dorothy came from the sea- shore to pay' a visit to the Bobbsey family. Of course Bert was glad to see Dorothy, and jjltfas very nice to her, taking his cousin and Nan 704 THE BOBBSEi' TwiNS AT HOME dawn to the store to buy some ice cream. But as Bert was a boy, and liked to play boys* games, Dorothy was better suited to Nan and Flossie than she was to Bert. Freddie, however, seemed to be especially pleased that his cousin from the seashore had come on a visit. He watched his chance to h^ve a talk with her alone, and the first thing he asked was : "Dorothy, do you know where I can get a ship to go sailing on the ocean ?" "Go sailing on the ocean!" cried Dorothy. "What for, Freddie?" "To find Tommy Todd's shipwrecked father. He wants to find him, awful bad, and I prom- ised to help. I was going to save up to buy a ship, but Daddy says it takes a long time. And I thought maybe as you lived near the ocean you could get a ship for us. "It needn't be very large, 'cause only Tommy and Flossie and Dinah, our cook, and I will go in it. But we'd like to go soon, for Tommy's grandmother is poor, and if we could find hia father he might bring her some money." "Oh, you funny little boy!" cried Dorothy. IN THii LUMBEK YARD 105 "To think of going off in a sKip ! I never heard of such a thing !" "Well, we're going!" said Freddie. "So if you hear of a ship we can get you tell me ; will • you, Dorothy?" "Yes, my dear, I will. Is that what you've been trying to ask me ever since we got here?" "Yes. I didn't want Nan and Bert to hear- You won't tell them ; will you ?" "No, Freddie. I'll keep your secret;" But of course Doro,thy knew there was no ship which so little a boy as Freddie could get in order to go sailing across the sea. But she did not want him to feel disappointed, and she knew better than to laugh at him. Freddie was very much in earnest. Dorothy Minturn spent two happy weeks with the Bobbsey twins. She and they had many good times, and more than once Freddie asked the seashore cousin if she had yet found a ship for him and Tommy. At last Dorothy thought it best to tell Fred- die that there were no ships which she couJi get for him. "Well, that's too bad," said Freddie, afki lo6 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME thinking about it for several seconds. "If I can't buy a ship, and if you can't get one for me, Dorothy, I know what I can do." "What?" she asked. "I can make one. My papa has lots of boards in his lumber yard. I'll go down there and make a ship for Tommy and me." The next day Freddie asked his mother if he might not go down to his father's yard. As the way was safe, and as he had often gone before, Mrs. Bobbsey said he might go this time. Off trudged Freddie, with some nails in one pocket and pieces of string in another. "I can use a stone for a hammer," he said, "and nail some boards together to make a ship. That's what I'll do." Freddie first went to his father's office, which he always did, so Mr. Bobbsey would know his son was at the yard. This time it happened that Mr. Bobbsey was very busy. He looked at Freddie for a moment, and then said : "Now Freddie, do you see where James is sitting by that pile of shingles ?" and he pointed across the yard. "Yes, I see," Freddie answered. He knew IN THE LUMBER YARD jo; James very well. He was the day watchman in the lumber yard, and he walked around hers and there, seeing that everything was all right. "Well, you go over to James and tell him I said he was to look after you," went on Mr. Bobbsey. "You may play about, but keep near James, and you'll be all right. When you get tired come back here." "All right," said Freddie. He and the other Bobbsey children often rame to their father's yard to have good times, and James, or some of the men, was always told to look after the twins, if Mr. Bobbsey happened to be busy. "Hello, James," called Freddie, as he walked over to the watchman. "Hello!" answered the man cheerfully. "What are you doing here ?" "I've come to have some fun and play with you;" "All right," answered James. "What shall wc play first?" CHAPTER XI A QUEER PLAY-HOUSE Freddie Bobbsey thought for a minute, ht and James had played numbers of games on other days when Freddie was allowed to come to his father's lumber yard. This time Fred- die wanted to think of something new. "Do you want me to tell you a story ?" asked the watchman, for this was one of the "games." James knew many fine stories, for he had used to live in the woods, and had chopped down big trees, which were afterward sawed into boards, such as were now piled about the lumber yard. Freddie always liked to have the old watch- man tell tales of what had happened in the woods, but this time the little chap said : "Thank you, no, James. I want to do some thing else." "All right, Freddie. Shall we clay steam- boat, and shall I be the whistle?" io8 A QUEER PLAY-HOUSE 109 This was another fine game, in which Fred- die got upon a pile of lumber and pretended it was a steamboat, while on the ground, down below, the watchman made a noise like a whis^ tie, and pretended to put wood on the make- believe fire to send the steamboat along. "No, I don't want to play steamboat," Fred die said. "But this game has a boat in it Did you ever build a ship to go sailing in ?" "No, Freddie. I never did. Do you wan? to play that game?" "Yes, but I want to make a real boat. Yoi eee Tommy Todd's father is lost at sea, and we are going to look for him. So I want to make a ship. There's lumber enough, I guess." "I guess there is," said James, looking ' around at the many piles of boards in Mr. Bobbsey's yards. "There's enough lumber, Freddie, but I don't know about making a ship. How big would it have to be ?" "Well, big enough to hold me and Tommy and my sister Flossie and Dinah, our cook. Dinah's very fat you know, James, and we'll have to make the ship specially big enough for her. Will you help me?" no THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOMfe "Why yes, I guess so, Freddie. That game will be as good as any to play, and I can d»» if sitting down, which is a comfort." "Oh, but it's going to be a real shipC de- clared Freddie. "I've got the riails to put i< together with, and string for the sails. I can use a stone for a hammer," and he began to look about on the ground for one. James scratched his head as he saw the bent «nd crooked nails Freddie had piled up on a bundle of shingles near by. Then the watch- man glanced at the tangle of string. "As soon as I find a stone for a hammer we'll start," Freddie said. "You can get out the boards." James wanted to be kind and amuse Freddie all he could, for he liked the little boy. But to pull boards out of the neat piles in Mr. Bobb- sey's lumber yard was not allowed, unless the boards were to be put on a wagon to be carted off and sold. "I'll tell you what we'd better do, Freddie," paid the watchman at last. "What?" Freddie asked. "We'd better make a little ship first That A QUEER PLAY-HOUSE m will be easy and we can make it like a big ontt. Then we'll have something to go by — a sort of pattern, such as your mother uses when she makes a dress for your little sister." "Oh yes !" cried Freddie. "That's what we'U do — make a little pattern ship first. It will be easier." "Much easier," said James. "Now I'll find some small pieces of board for you, and — -, — " But just then one of the workmen in the yard called to the watchman to come and help him pile some lumber on a wagon. "Wait just a minute, Freddie," said James. "I'll be back soon and help you." "All right," answered Freddie. He sat down on a pile of shingles, and thought of the time when he and Tommy Todd should set off on their ship to find the shipwrecked Mr. Todd. The watchman was gone longer than he ex- pected. Freddie grew tired of waiting for him, and finally said to himself : "I'm going to look for some wood myself. I guess I can find it." He looked for some on the ground, but, though there were many chips, and broken pieces, there was none of the 112 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME kind Freddie thought would be good for a toy ship — ^the pattern after which the real one would be made. "I guess I'll climb up on one of these piles of lumber," thought Freddie, "and see if there are any small pieces of board on top. It is easy to climb up." This was true enough, and once or twice be- fore Freddie had made his way to the top of a pile. Each stack of lumber was made in a sort of slanting fashion, so that the back of it was almost like a pair of steps. Lumber is piled this way to let the rain run off better. Freddie went up the back part of a pile, some distance away from the bundles of shingles where he had been talking to James. "This is an easy place to climb," Freddie said to himself. "I hope I shall find what I want on top." Step by step he went up the pile of lamber, until he was at the top. But, to his disappoint- \ment, he found there nothing which he could bring James to use in making a small ship. [The boards were all too long and wide. **I might bring one down, and have JamtiS A QUEER PLAY-HOUSE 113 cut it smaller with his knife/' said Freddie, speaking aloud. "That's what I'll do." He lifted up one of the boards. As he did so the Uttle boy noticed that the pile of lum- ber was swaying a little from side to side as he moved about. "I guess I'd better get down off here," Fred- die said. "This is too jiggily." He had been told to keep off "jiggily" lumber piles, as they were not safe. Freddie dragged to the edge the board he had picked out for the watchman to make smaller. The little boy was just going to sUde it over the edge of the pile to the ground, when, all at once Freddie felt himself falling. "Oh dear!" he cried. "Something is going to happen !" And something did happen. The lumber pile with Freddie on top, was falling over. Fred- die did not know what to do; whether or not to jump. He looked down, but neither James nor any other man was in sight ; and the office, where Freddie's father was working, was fap on the other side of the yar(J. "Oh dear !" cried Freddie again. U4 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME And then, with a crash, the top of the lum- ber pile slid over, carrying Freddie with it. A cloud of dust arose and the little Bobbsey chap could see nothing for a few seconds. And when he did open his eyes, after feeling him- self come down with a hard bump, he found himself in a queer little house. it really was a sort of hbuse in which Fred- die found himself — a little play-house, almost, The lumber had fallen about him in such a way tiiat Freddie had not been hurt or squeezed by it in the least. The boards had piled up over his head, in a peak, like the pfeaked roof of a real house. Other boards were on the sides and in front, and there Freddie was, in a queer play-house that had made itself' when the lum- ber slid over. ; "Well!" thought Freddie, "this is funny! But I wonder how I can get out." It was not dark in the queer play-house, for light came in between the cracks among the boards and planks. But though the cracks and openings were large enough to let in the light, they were not large enough to let Freddie get out A QUEER PLAY-HOUSE 115- • The littk boy pushed here and there, but the lumber was too heavy for him to move. Then he happened to think that if he did move one board it might 'loosen others which would fall down on his head. "I'm in a little house," thought Freddie, "and I guess I'd better call my father to come and get me out. He'll know how to lift off the boards. I'll call daddy or James." Freddie began to call. But as several lum- ber wagons were rattlihg up and down the yard just then, the little boy's voice was not heard. James, having finished helping the man load his wagoHj came back to where he had left Freddie. "Well, shall we start to make a little ship now?" asked the watchman. But no Freddie was in sight near the shingle pile. "Humph ! He got tired of waiting, I guess," thought James, "and went back to his father's office. Well, if he comes back I'll help him. He's a queer little chap, wanting to build a ship. A queer little chap." And James never thought of going to loo7? for Freddie, for the lumber pile, virhich hi^a. fallen and made itself into a sort of play-house Il6 THE BOBBsKY TWINS AT HOME was some distance away from the bundle of shingles. So James sat there in the sun, wait- ing, and, far off, Freddie was calling for help. For he wanted to get out, very much. CHAPTER XII TOMMY IS REWARDEI> Freddie Bobbsey was a wise little chap, even if he was only about five years old, and when he found that he was shut up in the queer play- house, and could not 'get out, he did not cry. He stopped calling for help, when he found no one answered him, and sat down to think what was best to do. "It would be nice in here, if Flossie could be with me to play," he said to himself. "But she couldn't get in unless some way was opened, or unless one of the cracks was made bigger. There ought to be a door and some windows to this place. Then we could go in and out, and have fun. And we ought to have something to eat, too," Freddie went on. But there was nothing to eat under the pile of lumber, and Freddie had not thought to put a piece of cake or an apple in his pocket "7 Il8 ' THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME as he sometimes did when he went to visit his father. That morning he had thought of nothing much but about making a ship to go sailing with Tommy Todd to look for Tommy's father. And all Freddie had put in his pockets were the nails and bits of string. He could not eat them, and, anyhow, they were back by the pile of shingles where he had been talking to James. "Maybe James will come and find me after a bit," Freddie thought. "I'll just stay here and wait." He called as loudly as he could once or twice more, but no one answered him. Freddie made himself as easy as he could in the queer little lumber play-house, and, as it was warm with the sun shining down, pretty soon he felt sleepy. How long he slept Freddie did not know, but> all of a sudden he was awakened by hearing a scratching sound near his ear. Some one was scratching away at. the lumber. "Who is there?" Freddie cried, sitting up. No one answered but Freddie again heard tl»e scratching. TOMMY IS REWARDED iig- "Oh — oh!" he exclaimed, shrinking back in •me corner. "I wonder if that is a big rat? Rats scratch and gnaw." Once more came the funny sound, and then Freddie heard : Mew ! Mew ! "Oh ! Now I know that isn't a rat !" cried the little boy. "Rats can scratch, but rats can't mew. Only cats can do that! Here, pussy !" he called. "Come in and see me !" Once more there was a scratching and a mewing and up through one of the larger cracks •:ame a big gray cat, that lived in the lumber yard. Freddie knew her quite well, for he had often seen her in his father's office. '"Oh Sawdust!" he called joyfully. Sa\ir- dust was the cat's name; a very good name for a lumber yard cat, I think. "I'm so glad It's you, Sawdust !" cried Freddie. The big cat came up to Freddie, and rubbed 'igainst his legsl The little boy rubbed her back and the cat's tail stood up stiff and straight, like the flag pole in front of Mr. Bobbsey's of- fice. "I, thought you were a rat, Sawdust," went I20 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME on Freddie. "But I'm glad you weren't. I like you!" The cat purred again. She seemed to like Freddie, too. Soon she curled up beside him, and Freddie put his arm around her. And, be^ fore he knew it he was asleep again, and so was Sawdust. She had found her way into the queer play-house while wandering about the lumber yard as she often did, taking walks, I suppose, to make sure there were no mice or rats about. It was not long after this that Mr. Bobb- sey left the office to go over to one part of his lumber yard to see about some boards a inan wanted to buy. On the way Freddie's father passed the place where James, the watchman, was sitting by the shingles. "Well, did Freddie bother you much?" asked Mr. Bobbsey. "I'll look after him now, as I'm not so busy." "Why no, he didn't bother me, Mr. Bobb- sey," said the watchman. "He wanted to build a toy boat, and he brought some nails and string. I had to go over to help Jason load his wagon, and when I came bach, having left TO^tMY IS REWARDED 12I Freddie to hunt for some boards, he wasn't here. Didn't he go back to the office ?" "Why no, he didn't!" exclaimed Mr. Bobb- sey, in some alarm. "I haven't seen him. I wonder where he can have gone?" They looked up and down the rows between the piles of lumber, but no Freddie could be seen. "Perhaps he went home," said James. "You could find out by calling Mrs. Bobbsey on the telephone." "So I could, yes. But if I asked if Freddie were home she would want to know why I Asked, and why he wasn't here with me — ^that is, if he wasn't at home. Then she would worry for fear something had happened to him. No, I'll have to find out in some other way." "I could take a walk down past the house," the watchman said. "I could look in and see if Freddie was there. If he wasn't, we'd know he was somewhere around the yard yet." , "Well, you might do that," Mr. Bobbsey said. He himself was a little worried now. "But don't let Mrs. Bobbsey see you," he went iSfWM'' 122 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME on to James. "If she did she'd want to know what you were doing away from the yard. Just walk past the house. If Freddie is at home he'll be out in the yard playing. If you don't see him let nie know. Meanwhile, I'll be search- ing around here for him, and I'll get some of the men to look with me." "All right," agreed James, hurrying off. While he was gone Mr. Bobbsey looked around the many lumber piles near the bundles of shingles where Freddie had last been seen. But no little boy was in sight, being, as wt know, fast asleep, with the big yard cat, under the pile of boards which had fallen in the shape of a little play-house. "This is queer," thought Mr. Bobbsey, ' "Freddie never goes home by himself after he has come to see me without telling me that he is going. I wonder where he is." Mr. Bobbsey looked anii called Freddie's name, but the little fellow, being sound asleep, did not hear. Then Mr. Bobbsey told several of his men about the little lost boy, and they began search- ing for him. No one thought of looking urider TOMMY IS REWARDED 123 the pile of boards, for there were many such in the yard. And so Freddie remained hidden. When he was not to be found Mr. Bobbsey grew more and more anxious, and he hoped that James would come back to say that Fred- die was safe at home. But when the watchman came back he said ; "Your other children are playing in the yard of your house, Mr. Bobbsey. Bert, .Nan and Flossie are there. But Freddie isn't with them." "Maybe he is in the house, getting something to eat," said Mr. Bobbsey. "No, I hardly think so," answered James, "for when I was going past the house, on the other sidi of the street so they wouldn't see me, a littl ing under the boards tha,t had slid ofif the stack upon which Freddie had climbed. For it did not seem as though an}'' one could be beneath them. "Well, I don't know what to do," said Mr. Bobbsey, after a bit. "I guess I'll blow the big fire whistle, and get all the men from the shops and every place to help us look. This is too bad!" Besides the lumber yard Mr. Bobbsey owned a mill, or shop, where boards were made into doors, windows and other parts of houses. Many men worked in this shop. All this while Freddie was peacefully sleep- ing under the lumber, with Sawdust curkd up near him, purring happily. Finally, Freddie awakened again, and as he sat up and rubbed his eyes he could not, for a moment, remember where he was: Then he looked down and saw Sawdust, and he said : TOMMY IS REWARDED 125 "Oh, I'm in my little lumber play-house yet. I must get out. Where did you get in, Saw- dust ? Maybe I can get out the way you came in. Show me where it was." Sawdust mewed. Perhaps she knew that Freddie was in trouble, though she did not quite understand all that he said. At any rate the big cat walked over toward a large crack, and squeezed her way through it to the outside. "That's too small for me," said Freddie, for he could not get even one foot through the opening. "I'll have to find a bigger place." He looked all over but there was none. Then he called out as loudly as he could : "Papa ! Mamma ! Help me ! I'm under the lumber !" Freddie paused to listen. He heard some one walking past the pile of lumber. The little boy called as hard as he could: "Get me out J Get me out!" Then, suddenly, a voice asked : "Who are you and where are you ?" "I'm Freddie Bobbsey," was the answer. "I'm down under the lumber and I can't get out Please help me. Who are you?" 126 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME "Of course I'll help you, Freddie," was the answer. "I'm Tommy Todd. I just happened to pass through the lumber yard. I'm going to ask your father if he has any errands for me to do, as it's Saturday and there is no school. But I'll get jou out first, Freddie." "Oh Tommy ! I'm so glad you came. Please get me out !" But to get Freddie out from under the lum- ber was too hard for little Tommy Todd. "I'll run and tell your father, Freddie," Tommy said. "Don't be afraid. He'll soon get you out." "I'm not afraid," Freddie said. Tommy ran up to Mr. Bobbsey, who was just getting re:ady to blow the big mill whistle and call out all the men, more than a hundred of them, to help search for the missing boy. "Oh Mr. Bobbsey !" cried Tommy. "Fred- die can't get out and I can't get him out." "Where is he ? Tell me quickly !" "He's under a pile of lumber. I'll sho\n^ you!" Tommy quickly led the way, Mr. Bobbsey, James and some other men followinof. When TOMMY IS REWARDED 127 they reached the pile of lumber that had slid over Freddie's head the men carefully but quickly lifted away the boards, and the little boy could come out. "Oh Freddie!" cried his father. "1 was so worried about you ! What happened ?" Then Freddie told of having chmbed up on the lumber pile, and of its having toppled over with him, but not hurting him in the least. "It was just like a play-house," he said. "And I heard a scratching and thought it was a rat. But it was Sawdust." "I saw the cat come out from under the lum- ber," said Tommy. "Btlt I did not know Fred- die was there until I heard him callmg. I war coming to you to ask if you had any work for me this Saturday, as there isn't any school. I need to work to earn money for my grand- mother." "Work? Of course I can give you work," said Mr. Bobbsey, who had Freddie in his arms. "You deserve a good reward for find- ing Freddie for us, and you shall have it. I'm glad I didn't have to call out all the men, for if I had blown the big whistle Mrs. Bobbsey 128 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME would have heard it, and she would have thought there was a fire." So Tommy Todd was rewarded for having found where the lost Ereddie was. The fresh air boy was given some easy work to do, for which he was well paid, and besides this, Mr. Bobbsey gave the grandmother five dollars to buy the food and the clothing which she needed very much. "I'm glad I happened to come past the lum- ber pile where you were," said Tommy a little later, When he was taking Freddie home, for , Mr. Bobbsey sent Tommy along to see that the little chap did not get lost again. "I'm glad, too," said Freddie. "I'm not gbing to climb up on lumber piles any more. But we've got to make that boat. Tommy, and sail off to find vour father." "Yes, I wish we could find him, but I'm afraid we can't. Anyhow it will be Winter soon and it isn't any fun going to sea in the Winter, so my grandmother says. Maybe we'd better wait until it's Summer again before we think of the ship." "Well, maybe we had. Tommy." CHAPTER XIII THE FIRST FROST Mrs. Bobbsey was quite surprised when Tommy brought Freddie home, and she was more surprised when she heard what had hap- pened, and how Freddie had been caught under the lumber. , "Dear me, I am glad they found you, Fred- die !" she cried, kissing him. "And so Tommy found you ; did he ?" asked Nan, smiling at the boy whom they had met in the train the day the fresh air children came home from the country. "Yes," Tommy answered. "I was going on an errand for my grandmother, and the short- est way was through the lumber yard. I thought it would be a good chance to ask your father for work* And I am to have it — every Saturday and on some other days after school." 129 • I30 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME . "You'll earn a lot of money," Freddie said, "and then we can build our ship." "He can't get that idea out of his head," remarked Bert to Nan. "Ob, he's anxious to help Tommy find his -iher," Nan answered. "I wish it would hap- pen, but I'm afraid he never will be found." Having seen that Freddie was safe at home, Tommy hurried back to the lumber yard office. Then he went on a numl^er of errands for Mr. Bobbsey. The twins' father said, that nigl>' he had seldom met such a bright and willing' boy. "Tommy will grow up to be a fine man, I'm sure," said Mr. Bobbsey. One day, a little while after Freddie had been lost under the lumber pile, he and Flossie were standing in the school yard at recess ^ Alice Boyd came up to them. "Want some candy ?" she asked, holding out iome in a paper. "Thanks," said Freddie, taking some. "Where did you get it?" Flossie inquired, as she took a piece. "My sister and I made it," answered Alice, THE FIRST FROST 131 "How do you make candy?" inquired Fred-